


23 Years Later

by intern_at_german_chapterhouse



Category: All the Young Dudes - Fandom, Harry Potter - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: All The Young Dudes - MsKingBean89 - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Inspired by ATYD, Inspired by All The Young Dudes, M/M, Married Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Memories, Minor Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Post-Canon, Professor Harry Potter, atyd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:34:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28538175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intern_at_german_chapterhouse/pseuds/intern_at_german_chapterhouse
Summary: Teddy gets a letter from his father's ex-boyfriend. A letter about another letter.23 years after receiving the last letter from Remus, Grant writes one to Remus' son.Inspired by a TikTok by @ bitchesberobin ( https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSvjE8Lp/ ) : "What if one of Grant's foster kids got a Hogwarts letter?"Also based on the characters and their story in All The Young Dudes ( https://archiveofourown.org/works/10057010/chapters/22409387 ) by MsKingBean89
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Teddy Lupin & Harry Potter, Teddy Lupin/Victoire Weasley
Comments: 13
Kudos: 64





	1. The Letter

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer:  
> I do not own any of these characters. Some of them, unfortunately, belong to JKR, some were created by MsKingBean89.
> 
> I do not support JKR or her horrible "views" on gender or sexuality. Trans men are men, trans women are women and anyone who disagress with that should feel free to read something else.

_Dear Teddy,_

_I need your help with something magic-related. Think you could come see me this weekend?_

_Grant_

It had been a few years since Teddy had met Grant the first time when he got the letter.  
They had stayed in touch, written letters every now and then and even met for coffee every few months.  
Grant knew that Teddy had been training to become a healer, he'd given him a muggle book on anatomy when he finished training.  
Teddy had heard all about the boy Grant and Marcus had adopted a few years back, Kieron.

They'd talked about Remus most of the time, but they'd also gotten to know each other.  
The older man was funny and kind and understanding and Teddy understood, why his father would love him.

Getting to know his old friend's (and boyfriend's, but they'd always been friends first) son made Grant feel a little closer to Remus.  
Although the younger man was so different from the Lupin he'd known. He wasn't as rough around the edges as his father, since he'd grown up with more love and light than either Grant or Remus had known as children.  
Teddy had parts of his father as well as his mother (at first, Grant had wondered what had drawn Remus to the woman he married. But after spending a few hours with her son, it was easier to understand, if she'd been even half as positive and warm as Teddy), but also parts of his godfather, Harry.  
Grant had even met Harry once, they'd gotten along quite well although Harry hadn't really understood, why Grant knew so much about Remus.

But not once in the four years they'd known each other had Grant asked Teddy about anything magic related. Or asked him for help.  
They had mostly ignored the subject and walked around it.  
So getting a letter one cold winter's day, asking explicitly for help with something concerning magic worried Teddy slightly.

By Friday he was so nervous Victoire made him a tea while he sat on the couch in their living room, his leg bouncing at the speed of light.  
The smile she gave him calmed him down before he could even smell the chamomile tea. Harry had always made him chamomile tea when something bothered him.  
Just the smell was usually enough to relax him, but Victoire's presence was a lot better at that.

Teddy pulled her into his lap and she set the mug on the table, giggling and trying not to spill anything.  
He held her face and just looked into her eyes before asking her: "Will you marry me?"  
Her smile got wider and she acted like she was thinking about it. "Hmm... Yes?"  
And then she kissed him, his hands at her back, hers in his hair. He could feel the ring on her finger get caught in a strand of his hair (it was brown that day, he'd kind of grown out of the blue hair and only changed the colour when he was playing with some of the younger kids from the Weasley-Potter-Granger-Clan) and it just made him smile again.  
The concerns about what Grant might need help with were forgotten and Teddy was filled with the same warmth and all-encompassing joy he had felt when Vic had first said yes to his actual proposal.

Teddy took the train to Brighton and walked the rest of the way to Marcus and Grant's house.  
Grant let him in and told him that the others were all at the beach and they'd have the house to themselves.  
They sat down at the kitchen table with tea and some digestives and with every passing second, Teddy became more anxious.

"Okay, so what do you need help with?"  
"Oh, er," Grant looked down at the table and then pulled a paper out of the stack of letters and drawings in an old shoe carton at the edge of the table, "we got this and... Well, I think I might need help with."  
Teddy accepted the letter Grant handed him and read the first sentence out loud.

" _Dear Mr Kieron Chapman-Scott,_  
 _we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._ "

Teddy put the letter down and looked up at Grant.  
The older man looked slightly scared.  
"Kieron is a wizard? Has he shown any magical abilities?" Teddy was smiling, just imagining the young boy at Hogwarts. He'd love it there.  
The few times Teddy had talked to Kieron, he had told him stories. Things that had happened at Hogwarts while he'd been there or things Harry and the others had told him about.  
He'd never said that Hogwarts or magic were real but Kieron had eaten the stories up and even played wizard with a stick he'd found on the ground, practising the spells Teddy had made up.

"I don't know," Grant shrugged, "what would that look like?"  
"Oh, well, I made some cups float once," Teddy recounted what Harry had told him, "and once I shrunk a t-shirt I didn't want to wear. Harry made his hair grow back any time his aunt cut it too short. Stuff like that."  
Grant took a while to think about things that had happened around Kieron the past five years since he'd come to live with them.  
"He fell, a few weeks ago. I was so sure his jeans had ripped but there was nothing. Could that be something?"  
"Yeah, sure," Teddy nodded, "could be anything unusual. There's probably more that you didn't even spot."

They were quiet for a little while, Grant took a few sips of his tea and Teddy put some sugar in his.  
"Do you--" Grant stopped himself and took another sip and a deep breath.  
Teddy smiled at him reassuringly. The older man should know by now that he could ask him anything, he'd answer honestly. It wasn't like he had anything to hide.  
"Do you think I should let him go? To Hogwarts I mean?"  
He looked truly scared now.

And before he just yelled out 'sure, of course, why the hell not?!', Teddy thought about what Grant knew about the magical world.  
It probably wasn't much.  
He'd found out about the much weirder part of the world after the first war against Voldemort and lost connection to it during the second one.  
The two wizards he had known back then both died young and horribly, just like their friends.

He didn't know the amazing sides of the wizarding world Teddy had grown up with.  
The flying brooms and talking portraits, the healing potions and cute little magic tricks Harry had used to make him smile as a kid.  
Grant had only ever known the dark parts of Teddy's world.  
Of course he'd be scared to send his kid there.

"It's your decision, of course, but I think you should. It's a lot safer than it used to be, you know?"  
Teddy bit his lip and looked down at his mug.  
"I mean, there are dangerous parts and things, but... Grant, it's amazing.  
Magic.  
It's beautiful and fun and...  
We'd help you guys navigate it all. Harry and two of his friends are teachers at Hogwarts, they'd help Kieron out and I can help you buy his books and everything. And I think he'd like it at Hogwarts, I truly do."  
Grant nodded slowly. "I'm just scared that something's gonna happen to him."  
"I understand that, I do. But, well, Harry has probably had the worst and most dangerous school career in Hogwarts' history and he still sent all of his kids there, and I know that that is not necessarily a great argument, but--"  
Teddy let his sentence trail off because he couldn't think of anything else to say.  
He just felt like going to Hogwarts would be the best thing for Kieron. It had been one of the best things to ever happen to him.  
He'd learned so much, about the world and himself and even his parents.  
He loved Hogwarts.

What convinced Grant, in the end, was a three-hour-long talk to Harry.  
Teddy was playing chess with Kieron while the two men talked and told him a little more about the allegedly made up magical school.  
Kieron still listened to everything Teddy told him about merpeople and bowtruckles and the Whomping Willow.  
His shining eyes made Teddy smile and he just hoped that Grant would allow the boy to learn everything he could at Hogwarts.

They went shopping together at Diagon Alley that summer, the Potters, Teddy and Vic, Grant and Marcus and Kieron.  
James needed a few things for his first own flat when he started training as an Auror in September.  
Albus and Lily needed books and other things for their next year at Hogwarts.  
The Potters' youngest, Arthur Junior, was just a few weeks younger than Kieron and needed everything the muggle-born boy needed for their first year at Hogwarts.  
The two hit it off right away and almost ran off a couple of times. It became Teddy's duty to keep them from disappearing in the crowd.  
Harry let his older kids roam free, they knew their way around and Albus wanted to meet up with his boyfriend anyway.

Grant and Marcus were taken slightly aback by the hustle and buzzing of Diagon Alley, the owls and people dressed in long robes.  
The rest of the group laughed at their open mouths as they took in the absolute chaos that was the wizarding world's busiest street.  
Victoire excused herself after just a few moments, her morning sickness had gotten worse over the past few days and she decided to sit down at a café and drink her potion for now. She wouldn't let Teddy stay with her but agreed to let Ginny accompany her.

And so it was just two wizards, two muggles and two boys excited for school left.  
They went to Olivander's, Gringott's and Flourish and Blotts, got the two boys robes and cauldrons and books and everything they needed.  
The three who were new to all this couldn't stop marvelling at all the weird things happening around them.  
Letters flying through the air by themselves or being carried by owls, people swinging their wands left and right to open doors or make their purchases float behind them.

"Do we need to get him an owl?" Marcus asked as they stood before the Magical Menagerie at Diagon Alley's north end. "Grant doesn't like them."  
"No, you don't, Hogwarts has owls for the students to use," Teddy smiled at the two men.  
"And Kieron should feel free to just use mine and Ginny's whenever he needs to send a letter," Harry said, "our house is on the grounds and he's always welcome there."  
They all turned to the two boys who stood at the shop window, pointing to this or that animal inside.  
AJ had a cat he'd be taking to Hogwarts with him, one of Crookshank's descendants.  
"Dad, can I have a toad?" Kieron turned to his parents and pointed at an especially fat green animal in the far corner of the window.  
If they had said no, Teddy would have probably bought the thing for the boy, he looked so pleadingly up at them.

With their books and robes and the toad (called Happy) in their bags and hands, they went to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.  
Harry bought the boys some little trinkets while George came over to talk to them.  
His son, Fred, was just two years younger than Teddy and they had been great friends during their time at Hogwarts and still were. In fact, Fred had been a groomsman at Teddy's wedding in spring.  
Teddy loved talking to George, according to his aunt Minnie, the Weasley twins were the only ones who's pranks had gotten close to the mayhem his father and his friends had caused at Hogwarts.  
Of course, Teddy and Fred had done their best to live up to their legacy and passed all their knowledge down to James, Rose and Lily after they left Hogwarts (neither Victoire nor Albus had shown much interest in pranking other students and teachers).  
Teddy missed those pranks and shenanigans.  
He hoped Lily would include Kieron in their ongoing tradition of adding a few members to the pranking team every year.  
He'd have lots of fun with the group of kids.

When they left Diagon Alley, Teddy patted Grant's back. "It will get easier every year, trust me."  
Grant just sighed. Both he and Marcus looked exhausted after their shopping trip, but Kieron's eyes were glowing brighter than ever.  
Teddy and Grant both looked at the boy who was eating his ice cream and smiling widely.  
And a smile spread on Grant's lips as well and Teddy knew that he was glad he had decided to let Kieron go to Hogwarts.

Then Happy almost jumped out of Kieron's arm and unto the road at the Leaky Cauldron and Harry grabbed it.  
"Ha, Seeker-reflexes!" Ginny laughed at her husband and put an arm around her son. Looking into Arthur's eyes she said, with a playfully stern tone: "You, however, are going to be a Chaser, you hear me?"  
"No, mum," James' voice came from behind them, "Beaters are way cooler!"  
Kieron turned to his dads and exclaimed: "I want to be a Beater too!"  
"A what now?" Grant looked so tired the rest of them started to laugh.


	2. Kings Cross

Teddy came to Kings Cross in July to go to the platform with Grant and Marcus, they'd asked him to accompany them because they still felt a little odd in the wizarding world.  
But once they reached the passage, Marcus told them he'd stay in the Muggle part of the train station. He wasn't exactly a fan of running through the brick wall.  
Grant, however, seemed to enjoy it. He had this child-like joy in his expressions while they waited for the train that made Teddy smile.  
From what Grant had told him after Kieron's stay at home over Christmas break, both Grant and his son loved everything they learned about magic and the wizarding world.  
It had made Teddy happy to see Grant not afraid but excited for Kieron to go back to Hogwarts in January.

They said hi to Ginny waiting for Harry and their kids (she'd been visiting James and they'd go visit other friends and relatives in London before going back to Hogsmeade) and Hermione and Ron waiting for Rose and Hugo.  
The others asked how his daughter was doing and Teddy told them how she was crawling all over the living room when he left.  
When Ginny said Hope's name, Grant smiled again. He was the only one of them who knew that that had been Remus' mother's name.

They spend a few minutes chatting about their jobs.  
Ginny told them about a Quidditch game she had reported on the week before and Hermione told them about the newest law regarding house elves she had passed.  
Ron had taken over the Muggle Relations office a couple of months ago and told them about his new secretary who was a pureblood and didn't really understand half of what they were working on (Hermione made a little comment on Ron's own cluelessness about all things Muggle when they met, but he purposely ignored her).  
Leaving out as many details as possible to keep the other people involved anonymous, Teddy told them about a rather funny event on his ward at St. Mungo's (a patient had been hexed and was ballroom dancing all over the corridors, they spent ten minutes trying to catch him and after the right counter-spell was found had a good laugh about it with the rather embarrassed wizard who had actually told them they could tell the story to other people as long as they mentioned his excellent form, and Teddy made sure he did that).  
Grant looked a little lost but tried to listen and understand as much as he could.  
Ginny turned to him and asked him about his day.  
Awkwardly, Grant started talking about his job as a social worker, explained some of the legal stuff and talked about the boys at the home he was working with.  
The others nodded politely but Teddy clung to Grant's lips. He just hoped that his father had had someone as amazing as Grant looking after him when he was living in the boys home he grew up in.

Then the train rolled into the station and they all turned to catch a glimpse of their kids waiting at the doors already or looking out of the windows.  
Kieron wasn't alone when he stepped off the train. Another little boy his age walked next to him, talking to Kieron and hugging him when they both saw their parents and split up.  
Kieron ran straight into Grant's arms. He had his toad, Happy, in his arms and Lily and AJ were right behind him.  
After Grant let go of his son, the boy turned to Teddy and gave him a high five. "Hey, hanging out with the Parvati kid, huh? Are you guys friends?"  
Kieron nodded his head so hard Teddy was afraid it would fall off (ever since Hope had been born, Teddy had gotten convinced that babies and children were way too fragile) and yelled, too loudly even for the busy platform: "Yes, he's my best friend, he's in Gryffindor too, and he has two mums, just like I have two dads, and he's really funny, and--"  
Grant stopped the flow of words by hugging Kieron again and the three of them laughed together.

Harry came over to hug Teddy and say hi to Grant.  
When he turned back to join Ginny and their kids who were all waving at Teddy (they were coming over for dinner later anyway), Kieron yelled: "Bye, Professor Potter!" Which made a few heads in the crowd turn and people muttered for a few seconds.  
Teddy was used to people's reaction to his godfather, even now, two and a half decades after the war.  
It seemed to surprise Grant though. Teddy wondered if anyone had ever told him about Harry's role in the war but since he left his father before the second war and Teddy himself had never mentioned it, Grant probably had no idea.  
The thought made Teddy smile. Harry hated the attention he still got for all the shit he'd gone through (he had told Teddy a little about the second war, but Teddy knew that there was a lot more Harry would never talk to him about) and talking to people who had no idea he was a celebrity in the wizarding world must be kind of refreshing.

Teddy and Grant followed Kieron through the barrier, carrying his baggage while he kept talking about stuff he had learned at Hogwarts since the Christmas break. He sounded so excited and happy that it made Teddy smile too.  
When they reappeared on the muggle platform, Kieron was already hugging Marcus and telling him things about the school year.

Marcus had to go back to his shop, but Teddy and Grant decided to get a tea while Kieron kept blabbering on.  
"And, Dad, there are so many moving portraits everywhere!" Kieron was saying when Teddy carried a tray with mugs of tea to their table in the far back of a small, almost empty café.  
"And we were talking about the wars and all the people who fought in them! Professor Potter did, too, he was just seventeen when he killed You-Know-Who!"  
Grant just nodded and Teddy knew he did not, in fact, know who.  
"He fought in the battle of Hogwarts," Kieron kept talking while taking a sip of his tea, only taking half a second to swallow the drink before continuing to talk, "and we talked about a guy who fought in both wars and died in the second one, at Hogwarts! Did you know that the biggest battle was right there? On the courtyard and in the Great Hall where we eat every day!"  
Teddy just nodded, while Grant looked a little surprised by that. Apparently, no one had told him about the Battle of Hogwarts either.

"So, this guy used to be a teacher at Hogwarts and he was fighting there with his wife, and he was a werewolf, dad!"  
Grant shot a look at Teddy who just smiled slightly. He was pretty sure he knew who Kieron was talking about.  
"He was a werewolf and his wife was a merta- er, metarmo-" Kieron struggled to find the word.  
"Metamorphmagus," Teddy offered.  
"Yes, exactly, a metarmphmagus!" Kieron beamed up at Teddy. Then his face fell and he looked down at his tea. "I actually don't know what that means though."  
"It means, she could do things like this," Teddy tapped on Kieron's shoulder and when the younger boy looked up at him he let a few strands of his hair change colour. They turned pink and the other boy was smiling again.  
"And things like this," Lupin said while changing his nose to a pig's snout.  
Kieron started laughing and Teddy returned his facial features back to normal (well, to the state they were usually in. He had changed so often when he was younger, he wasn't completely sure what he was supposed to look like).

When Kieron ran off to go to the bathroom, Grant turned to Teddy. "I didn't know you could do that."  
Teddy just shrugged.  
"I don't do it that often, not anymore. Used to make Lily and AJ laugh and maybe I can use it to cheer Hope up when she gets older, but other than that, I don't really see the point." He shrugged again. "Makes colouring your hair easier, but I like the way I look." He smiled at Grant who just nodded.

After a few seconds of silence, Grant spoke again.  
"Sorry for that, I should have stopped Kieron from talking 'bout your dad."  
"No," Teddy shook his head, "I love that the kids at Hogwarts know about him. About him and mum fighting in the war."  
He took a sip of tea before continuing. "My year, there were so many kids who had lost people in the second war. Parents or grandparents or even siblings. They included the war in the syllabus for the first years because that was all we were talking about anyway."

For a second, Teddy just thought back to his first months at Hogwarts, hearing about his father from someone other than his Gran or Harry had felt weird.  
It was less personal, mostly about the exam at the end of term.  
But it had felt good to know that they were able to learn about anything because their parents and grandparents and siblings had fought Voldemort.

"We talked about a lot of the people in the war, but my parents were both part of the Order and instrumental to the success of their side, so they got a lot of attention. Just like Harry."  
"Was he really that big of a deal in that war? Professor Potter? Seventeen seems awful young to--" Grant stopped himself, probably reminded of Remus and Harry's parents who had fought in the first war when they were younger than Teddy was now.  
Trying to defuse the tension, Teddy chuckled lightly. "Harry was a very big deal back then. _The Chosen One_ ," Teddy emphasized the words he knew his godfather hated, "the only one who could defeat You-Know-Who."  
"Seriously?" Grant looked as if he was about to laugh out loud.  
"Yeah... But he did!" Teddy laughed.

"And your parents helped." It wasn't a question but Teddy still nodded.  
"Yeah, they did. And I'm really proud of them."  
"Just wish your dad could have seen you grow up. And your daughter."  
"Me too."

They were quiet for a few seconds and Teddy cleared his throat.  
"Kieron seems to really like Hogwarts."  
"Oh, yes, he does. Loves it there. Asked me if he could stay over the summer."  
That made them both laugh.

Quietly, Teddy said something he had never said out loud because it felt wrong:  
It felt disrespectful to the people who had raised him, had done their absolute best to make sure he was loved and taken care of.  
"Hogwarts was the first place I felt truly at home.  
Don't get me wrong, I loved my Gran and living with her, and Ginny and Harry did their best to make me feel at home with them too.  
Everyone tried to make sure I never felt left out. Harry calls me an honorary Potter and James and his siblings always treat me like a big brother.  
But at Hogwarts, I just... I felt like I could be totally myself because they wouldn't kick me out if I was too different. If I didn't live up to their expectations."  
He took a deep breath and a sip of tea.  
"They never wanted to, but I always felt as if everyone was expecting me to be a sort of replacement for my parents. Either dad or mum. But at Hogwarts, I was just Teddy. And I found friends and even family," he had to smile thinking of Vic and Hope, "and I'm just so glad I got to go there."

Grant listened to what Teddy said and nodded along. "I've been thinking 'bout your dad. How he must have felt there. 'Cause he found his family there too, his best friends, right?"  
Smiling, Teddy nodded at that, thinking about the pictures of the Marauders he had found at his dad's flat here in London.

Before he could think about how that all ended, Kieron came back from the bathroom and started talking again.  
And in May, Lily and Rose filled the Great Hall with flowers, dad! Roses and lilies, 'cause of their names! Praneeth and I were almost drowning in the flowers but we levitated them away from us and that was the first time I made Wingardium Leviosa work and--"  
His eyes lit up with the memory as he kept talking about pranks he had witnessed over the term and the two men had to smile despite the bitter-sweetness of their previous conversation.

And with a sideways glance at Grant, Teddy hoped the older man did not regret sending Kieron to Hogwarts.  
But how could anyone regret making a decision that caused so much joy on a child's face?

  
  



End file.
